Will You Accept This Rose?
by Friendorfoesnape
Summary: Yet another Bachelor Plot Bunny :D Whee! Draco Malfoy is the newest bachelor and what will happen when Hermione Granger is one of the contestants trying to win his heart? It would help if he could recognize her...
1. And The Future Bachelor Is

Title

**Will You Accept This Rose?**

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**Author's Note:** Hello! To all the readers of St. Mungo's Anatomy- yes I am continuing that story as well as starting this story. I've been dying to write my own version of this Dramione plotbunny so here goes.

Hope you enjoy!

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"I had a really good time Mary."

"Marsha."

"What?"

"Marsha. My name isn't Mary. It's Marsha!"

"Oh right, well then Marsha, I had a good time." Draco flashed her one of his best smiles, he could melt practically any girl's heart with one of those bad boys. He remembered in his school days when his smirks were what attracted girls to him, well smirks were for getting girls, smiles were for women.

"I had a really good time too Draco, despite you getting my name wrong 23 times."

"23? Wow, sorry about that. I guess it's hard to remember your name when I'm too busy getting lost in your eyes." God attracting women was just too easy.

"Aw, Draco. That is so sweet. If you want, you could come inside. I just bought this new mattress, and I would love to" wink "try it out."

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Draco hesitated as he walked into Blaise Zabini's flat, the door was already open and the lights were off.

"Blaise, you here?"

Suddenly he felt someone grab him from behind and cover his eyes. Draco was forced into a chair and suddenly his eyes were uncovered to reveal: Blaise Zabini, his best mate, and Pansy Parkinson, Blaise's long time girlfriend.

"Draco, we are here because we care." Pansy said sweetly.

"No you are bloody here because you bloody live here. Now let me go! And what the hell are you even doing?"

"Draco, this is an intervention, we are saving you from yourself." Blaise said as he turned the lights in the room back on.

"An intervention? From what?"

"Yourself, Draco, you are going to end up unhappy and alone if you don't stop your pattern of life." Pansy said creepily staring into Draco's eyes.

"My pattern of life? Please do explain this."

"What Pansy is trying to say is that your lack of commitment in relationships is what is going to make you alone when you are 50 and balding."

"Malfoys do not bald!"

"Our point is this, you need to start settling down. You are always seeing different women, sleeping with them one day and then moving on to the next girl. It was fine when we were in school but time is running out."

"So you grab me from behind, with the lights off and force me into a chair? And I thought I was supposed to be the dramatic one. Besides, so I like to spice up my relationships, so what?"

"No spicing up a relationship is changing colognes to surprise your partner. Sleeping with a million different women is just a way to score an easy STD." Pansy said a bit too loudly.

"Pansy!"

"Look, Draco, you know we only want what's best for you, right?"

"Well yes but-"

"So we did something, of course with your best interest in mind, but before we tell you need to promise not to get mad."

"What the hell did you do?"

"Draco, promise Blaise you won't get mad!" Pansy said.

"Fine I promise" Draco said questioningly.

"Ok, so Pansy's best friend, Trisha, you remember Trisha, right?"

"The muggle? You are not setting me up with her! Her nose is huge!"

"Excuse me Draco that is my best friend you are insulting! Besides, she wouldn't want to go out with you anyway." Pansy yelled.

"Oh I bet she would!" Draco replied with a smirk.

"BE QUIET!" Blaise yelled through their bickering. "Anyway as I was saying. Trisha was telling Pansy about this common muggle television show, you remember what a television is, right?"

"Yes I bloody well remember, get to your bloody point Blaise."

"Right so this television show is called, The Bachelor. And one lucky man gets chosen to be set up with 25 beautiful ladies and eventually he keeps sending some home, a few at a time, until he is left with two ladies. And then he gets to pick one of them to propose too."

"How on earth does this relate to me?"

"Well Draco I, well Pansy and I, signed you up to be the next Bachelor."

"YOU DID WHAT?"

"Oh Draco, calm down! All you have to do is date 25 women and if after all that you still don't like any singular one of them then you just break off the engagement after the show ends. I thought you would like this idea, I mean dating 25 women is like every man's fantasy, isn't it Blaise?"

"Well it might be some men's fantasies, but my fantasy only involves you." Blaise said as they exchanged an Eskimo kiss.

"Cut it out! What did we say about making me vomit before noon with 'couple stuff'?" Draco said as he grimaced

"Soon enough Draco I bet you will be acting just like us" Blaise said as he winked at Pansy.

"Yeah right."

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"Hermione, darling, I'm so glad to see you."

"Oh hey mom, I'm glad to see you too."

"So tell me all about life. How's work? Did you find a flat yet? How are Ron and Harry? Oh how is Ginny? And Luna? Neville? Do you have a boyfriend? What does he do? Is it getting serious?"

"Woah Mom slow down! One question at a time, please. Work is good, exhausting but good. Ron and Harry are good, but I am definitely ready to move out of their flat, I love the boys but they are pigs. Ginny isn't great, she just broke up with her boyfriend, Mark. Luna and Neville just left for their honeymoon in Aruba, I still can't believe they are the first ones out of our friends to be married but they are so happy, and I couldn't be happier for them. And no mom, for the hundreth time, I don't have a boyfriend, I just don't have the time yet."

"Hermione-I'm not trying to rush you but who knows how long your father and I will be alive, I would like to know my grandchildren."

"Mom you barely just turned 50 and you are acting as if you are on death's row."

"So you don't have a boyfriend?"

"Mom I just told you I didn't."

"And you have no intentions of getting one yourself?"

"I will once I get the time. It's not as easy as you make it sound."

"Excuse me I need to make a phone call" Mrs. Granger quickly hurried out of the room.

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"You did what?" Hermione shrieked.

"Oh Hermione, cut the dramatics, it is not such a big deal." Mrs. Granger said in order to calm her now hysterical daughter.

"Not such a big deal? Mom are you kidding? That's national television! You can't possibly expect me to try and date some one in front of millions of people! That's a complete invasion of privacy!"

"Hermione, I am only trying to do what's best for you. You don't want to end up 50 and alone with 500 cats, right?"

"I will not end up alone! Besides Mom chances are I would get there and be sent home instantly, leaving me in the exact same boyfriend-less rut I am in now."

"That's not the Hermione I know! The daughter I raised does not give up without a fight, and if she wants something she damn well gets it!"

"Mom this is a little different-"

"The Hermione Granger I know loves competition and gets what she wants. So please at least say you'll try it?"

"Mom you can't guilt me into this!"

"You know it would mean a lot to us!"

"Mom-"

"Hermione, please just think about it?"

"Fine!"

"You'll do it? Great! We need to go buy a completely new wardrobe! Not that your old one isn't….'unique' but it couldn't hurt to tweak it a bit."

"I said I would consider it! Not do it!"

"Same difference darling."

"Oh god, what have I gotten myself into"

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**Author's Note: **Yes I know this plot is a little over used but I wanted to give it a try. Anyway there wasn't much action in this chapter but hopefully the next one will have a bit more! Thanks for reading and please review!


	2. Let The Games Begin

Will You Accept This Rose

**Will You Accept This Rose?**

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**Disclaimer: **If the world was perfect then yes I would own Harry Potter. Unfortunately, it's not and I don't. Although I do own a pretty snazzy pair of Harry Potter socks. Also, I don't own the Bachelor or ABC but if I did then I'd be rich!!

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"Mr. Malfoy! How very nice to finally meet you, I'm Chris Harrison, the host of the Bachelor."

"Hmm how very _interesting_ it is to meet you too, eh Chris was it?"

"So Draco, how does it feel to be proclaimed the sexiest bachelor yet?"

"Smashing, just absolutely wonderful." Draco said with a bored tone.

"Ah so aren't you thrilled to meet the beautiful 25 women who are coming in hopes to win your heart?" Chris asked eagerly with a very strange eyebrow raise.

"Are you filming this?" Draco asked

"Not yet, we will repeat these questions later before the lovely ladies come."

"Great, then I'll just save my answers until later, so if you could just" Draco made a shoo motion with his hands "that'd be great." Draco said with a small smile.

"Ah they said you were a firecracker, I guess they were right." Chris laughed as he walked away.

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"Name please?" Asked a young, and apparently very uninterested women sitting at the desk outside of the ABC offices where Hermione was supposed to meet the producers.

"Hermione Granger. I'm supposed to be a contestant on the bachelor, I'm not sure why I'm doing this but my mom talked me into it and you know how persuasive parents can be, right?" Hermione tended to ramble a lot when she was nervous or uncomfortable, and at the moment she was both.

"Uh yeah sure whatever, uh just go through that door to the elevator and then go up one floor. Or wait maybe two floors. Let me check my list…..yeah it's definitely two floors. It'd be bad if I sent you up only one floor, because the Bachelor himself is in there right now and they would get so pissed at me if I ruined the entire show by letting you go-"

"Wait he's here?" Hermione said, cutting off the girl.

"Yeah and let me tell you he is really handsome. Like move over Brad Pitt kind of handsome. I mean if you looked up the word sexy in the dictionary you would totally see his picture and as I was saying to-"

"Right thanks, two floors up was it?"

"Uh yeah two floors." The girl said snappily, obviously offended at being cut off twice.

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"Miss Granger, we've been expecting you! Oh and you are even lovelier in person!" Hermione was then greeted by three or four ABC workers, all of which seemed to be a little peppier then she thought was humanly possible.

"Oh why thank you."

"Now we have a lot to do before tomorrow when you actually get to meet our newest Bachelor. We need to first find you a dress, than we need to tape you a bit, which will air with the episode as an introduction so that millions of people throughout the country will get to know you a bit."

"Millions?" Hermione gulped, now she was nervous.

"No need to be nervous, I'm sure a girl as pretty as you are will have no trouble winning the heart of the bachelor."

"I wish I could be so sure." Hermione half whispered to herself.

"Ok so darling we need to pick out a dress for you for the fateful moment when you meet the bachelor for the first time."

"Wait I thought I provided all my clothing."

"Oh no darling, that's what the audience might think but we pick out your first and last outfits. You can pick everything in between."

"Oh."

"So let's go off to my favorite place, the closet! We have a vide variety from Valentino to Versace. Let's just say this is a fashionista's dream!"

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Hermione did like competitions; she actually liked them quite a lot. But usually the competitions she took part in were more on her playing field, intelligence and potentially saving the world were more her style. She knew the first round of the Bachelor was based on first impressions and let's be honest-looks. The girls that made it through generally "had it going on." Hermione looked herself up in the mirror; she had to admit she had changed quite a bit since Hogwarts. She had a better figure she realized, to be honest she didn't look much like her younger self at all. Her hair had gotten slightly darker, and now her once unruly curls became tamer and no longer needed to be worked on mercilessly in order to look nice. Her eyes once a deep chocolate were more of a honey-brown and seemed to regain their natural sparkle that was lost in the war. She was different but yet still the exact same Hermione Granger.

The thing that separates Hermione Granger from other women is this characteristic: her desire to never lose. She was known for always having a game plan and the Bachelor, although very different from anything else she had ever partaken in, was still a game and her strategy was simple: be confident and play hard to get. Hermione knew from experience that men never went for the over eager. All of the boyfriends she had were attracted to her because she knew exactly who she was and she didn't depend on compliments to let her know how great she was. For example, Victor Krum in 4th year singled out Hermione because she was the only girl (and guy for that matter) who didn't fall head over heels for him within the first five minutes of seeing him. Actually she didn't pay much attention to him at all and he found that very attractive. Hermione was just going to play it simple, be herself, and kick some ass.

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Draco stood outside of the mansion waiting for further instructions. Within 15 minutes the limos would start pulling up, inside would be the 25 women who would all be fighting for his affection. He made a mental note in his head: thank Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson.

"Alright Draco are you ready to meet your 25 bachelorettes?" Chris asked as he came up behind him

"I can't wait" Draco said throwing the camera his sexiest smile. Sure he had 25 women coming for him but if millions of women in the country were also watching.

"Do you think you will find your one true love?"

"Anything is possible." Draco couldn't help but think 'yeah, right.'

"Look here comes our first limo."

Draco inwardly thought, 'let the games begin.

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Within a half an hour Draco had met the first 15 girls, with still ten more to come. He met Nadia, April, Sarah, Monica, Ivy, Caroline, Darla, Emma, Chloe, Mia, Rachel, Chantal, Kate, Rebecca and the very vibrant Stacy.

"So Draco you've met 15 girls so far with 10 more to come. How are you feeling?"

"Great, I mean I've met 15 beautiful and wonderful girls and I still get to meet more." Draco wasn't even being sarcastic so far all the girls were extremely attractive and usually rather nice, although some being a little weird. This was going to be hard.

"Okay well here comes limo number 16."

Draco waited while the door of the 16th limo was opened. He was very pleasantly shocked, out of the limo stepped a drop dead gorgeous blonde.

"Good evening." She said as she walked up to him.

"It certainly is, I'm Draco and you are?"

"Robin."

"What a beautiful name, so what do you do Robin?"

"I'm a model." Draco nodded his head, it definitely made sense.

"Well Robin, it's been a pleasure meeting you, hopefully I'll get to talk to you more inside." Robin flashed him a very charming smile and walked away, Draco made a new note to himself: Blaise Zabini is a god, and Pansy Parkinson, a goddess. He loved his best friends!

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8 more limos arrived after that bringing Amanda, Mackenzie, Noel, Alyssa, Sophia, Victoria, Natalie and Devon. Only one more limo left until Draco had to go back into the house and give out her first rose of the entire competition, the first impression rose. He knew this rose gave a singular girl a pass into the next round but honestly he had no idea who he wanted to give it to.

Finally the last limo of the night pulled up and Draco put his hands in his pockets, waiting.

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Hermione was eager to get out of the limo, she had been in here for an hour already driving around until it was her turn. She didn't want to ruin the moment but she really had to go to the bathroom. Her driver told her it was her turn so he was going to head towards the mansion now. Hermione did a quick once over in the mirror of the limo. Her hair looked good, she had it half pulled back and had made her curls particularly smooth today. The dress the ABC executives picked for her was fancier then any other dress she had ever worn, it was a royal blue strapless floor length BCBG dress. Her only concern was whether she would be able to walk in it.

Hermione noticed the mansion as she pulled into the driveway; it was extremely beautiful with a huge decorative fountain directly in front. Hermione looked around and saw a huge, well lit garden with a nice bench in it. She immediately decided that would be her reading spot, well if she made it to the next round. She tried to spot the Bachelor, however, a rather large hedge was in front of where she assumed him to be, the butterflies in her stomach were rampant. She couldn't help but think, 'let the games begin.'

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Hermione closed her eyes and took deep breaths until she felt the car stop. All right it was her turn to shine. Hermione opened her eyes and her eyes finally fell upon the Bachelor. He looked oddly familiar, although she still couldn't see him too clearly because of the tinted glass of the limo. Her driver came around to her door and opened it offering her his hand. As she took it and looked up recognition struck her, that couldn't be Draco Malfoy. Could it? Oh bugger it was him!


	3. The First Rose Ceremony

Will You Accept This Rose

**Will You Accept This Rose?**

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**Author's Note: ** I noticed a typo in my last chapter when referring to the first impression rose I by accident used the pronoun 'her' when I meant to use 'his'. Just thought I'd clear up any confusion. Hope you like this next chapter. I'm trying to update a significant amount in the next week because in a week and a half I am leaving for Europe and I will be gone a little over a month and will not have time to update this or St. Mungo's Anatomy. So hopefully I will be focused and get a lot of chapters written. Enjoy!

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"Driver, change of plans we are going home. I am not getting out."

"Uh miss, you need to get out. If you don't I will get fired."

"Please, take pity on me! I'm not going!"

"Miss get out!"

"Fine!"

It wasn't like Hermione Granger to freak out, well not really anyway. Unfortunately she has recently learned she does freak whenever she is a contestant on a reality dating show where the bachelor in question is in fact her ex-childhood enemy, one Draco Malfoy. Well if she has to face him she might as well do it with dignity, so what if he laughed in her face and insulted her. I mean she would face the smarmy prick with as much dignity as possible, well with as much dignity as she could muster. Screw it, she was still embarrassed.

"It had to be you!" Hermione said bitterly as she walked up to Draco

"Are you reciting song lyrics or are you disappointed by what you see?"

"What? Malfoy what are you talking about?"

"You know my name? I'm sorry, do I know you from somewhere?"

"Do you actually not recognize me?"

"Uh no, sorry! I-uh we haven't dated before, have we?"

"Oh no! God no! Exact opposite!"

"Oh good, then how exactly do I know you? I mean I can't believe I could have forgotten a face as pretty as yours." Hermione inwardly vomited at her childhood enemy's compliment. But did he really not remember her? Well then if he was so stupid she was going to take advantage of this situation! That's right you know: REVENGE! Hermione Granger was still bitter at all of Malfoy's insults and degrading comments towards her. Well what could be a better revenge then rejecting him on national television? All she had to was to get him to pick her and then when he offers him the rose she could say no and insult him! Well Mr. Malfoy 'let the games begin.'

"How do you know me? Oh well I'm a friend of a friend of uh a friend? My friend knows your friend, Pansy I think her name was, and we were introduced once. I just remembered you because I thought you were very handsome." God Hermione couldn't help but commend herself on her response. She definitely was clever. Although she hoped that this could never be disproved.

"Ah I'm surprised I don't remember you as well. What's your name? Maybe that will ring a few more bells."

Shit! A name? Oh god!

"Elizabeth….Bennett but you can call me Lizzie." Well it was the first name that came to mind and seeing as Draco was a pureblood he wouldn't recognize the reference to the muggle classic, Pride and Prejudice. The book itself though seemed to fit very well in this situation, although Draco Malfoy certainly isn't Mr. Darcy.

"Oh yes of course that does ring a bell, I do remember you, Lizzie Bennett." Hermione inwardly laughed and thought very politely 'BULL SHIT!'

"You remember me? How great!" 'Except not really because you are lying.' Hermione thought.

Hermione then noticed the ABC executives in the back frantically flipping through their papers, oh god of course they would realize something was wrong, they knew her real name. As soon as Draco wasn't looking she quickly pulled her wand out from her small pocketbook and did a minor obliviate. God she loved magic. Now everyone thought her real name was Lizzie Bennett. This was going to be easier then she thought. "I guess I should go inside" she said to Draco

"Well you could stay out here if you like." Draco said back trying to impress her with his sexiest smile.

"I don't think the other girls would like that." Hermione said as she walked away, but not before throwing him a little wink. Check one: play hard to get. Boys were so easy to impress.

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Draco soon followed after Hermione; he officially loved Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson. He had 25 amazing women but for some reason and he had no idea which one he wanted to give his first impression rose to. Well he had five for minutes more to decide, the ladies need to step up their game if they want one. Draco loved having power.

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"Hello ladies! We are all thrilled to have you here. I would like to once again introduce to you, your bachelor, Draco Malfoy!" Chris said as Draco walked into the room. All the ladies joined in either clapping or cheering. Hermione put on a small smile and lightly clapped.

"Now ladies I think we would all agree in my asking our bachelor for a toast." All the women all started cheering and clapping again. Hermione just sat back on the couch and smiled.

"I was never good at toasts but I'll see what I can do" Draco started. "I'm sure you all can agree with me in saying this is very exciting but also a little nerve-racking. We are all here looking for the same thing right? We all want a chance for love and I have this feeling that within this room will be my future wife. So cheers to her, whoever she may be. And cheers to all of you for coming and of course cheers to love."

"Cheers" The women said as they raised their glasses

"Cheers" Hermione whispered to herself as she took a sip.

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"Draco you have the best eyes. I mean grey is such a sexy color." Stacy said as she stroked his arm.

"Oh my gosh I totally agree. Blue is so overrated, grey is hot." Noel added

"I think so too!" Mackenzie piped in

"Would you mind terribly if I borrowed him for a second?" Darla asked in her southern accent as she grabbed his arm and led him outside.

"Good evening" Draco said

"Good evening to you too. Sorry I stole you away from those other girls, I was just getting jealous."

"Jealous? Well no worries now all my attention is on you."

"Good. That's how it should stay."

"So Darla where did you grow up?"

"Tennessee, if you couldn't already tell from the accent. Where did you grow up?"

"Born and raised in London."

"Oh my god I have always wanted to go to Canada!"

Well not everyone can be smart.

"Right…so you're a model?"

Before she could reply another girl came to steal his attention.

"I hate to ruin this moment but I was wondering if I could have Draco for a bit?" Chantal asked. Darla glared at her before walking away.

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"You are a very hard man to get alone." Chantal said as she led him to the bench by the pool.

"It's crazy, isn't it?"

"Oh completely but now I'm glad I have you all to myself."

"That you do."

Draco looked over Chantal and was very pleased to observe that she was extremely beautiful. She had striking blue and eyes and blonde hair with bangs pushed back behind a headband.

"So Chantal, what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a caterer. What do you do?"

"Well I'm a banker" He didn't need to mention that in fact he was a curse breaker through a magical bank.

"That's awesome. You know the other girls were right, your eyes are amazing. Grey is definitely the hottest color for eyes."

"Really? I actually think brown is hotter" Hermione said as she walked up to the sitting pair. "Although I could be biased because I have had brown eyes all my life."

"I am definitely a fan of brown eyes." Draco said as he motioned to Hermione to take a seat next to him.

"You know I actually think I'll stand. The view of the stars is particularly good from where I am." Hermione said as she gazed up.

Draco looked at her questioningly, although she didn't see his look because her attention was elsewhere. This confused Draco because she was the first girl of the night who wasn't dying for his attention. It was almost refreshing, however, Chantal brought him out of his thoughts.

"So Draco the girls and I were discussing what we thought your best feature is. We all picked different things and we couldn't decide so we thought the only way to settle this was to ask you what you thought."

"To be honest I haven't really thought about it." He had thought about it. Many times.

"Well I said your eyes because like seriously the color is just breath taking."

"I disagree" Hermione said looking down from the sky and towards Chantal.

"You do, Lizzie?" Draco asked.

"Yeah" Hermione said as she studied his face by tilting her head slightly and gazing at him. "I think your best feature is either your chin or your hands. Your chin just is naturally powerful, aristocratic I guess you could call it. And I like your hands well because I just have a thing for guys hands." Hermione said with a casual tone.

"Well you know what they say about guys with big hands." Chantal said as she laughed a little too loudly.

Hermione then took that moment to walk away, she didn't care enough about this competition to listen to immature jokes. For god's sake she graduated at the top of her class!

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"Draco you need to give out the first impression rose."

Draco hadn't picked any one yet. Darla, he found to be very attractive, however, dumb as bricks. Chantal was charming but a little simple minded. Natalie was gorgeous and rather intelligent but seemed a little shy. Lizzie was confusing, she was drop dead gorgeous but distant. Noel had an enchanting smile but other then that she was relatively unappealing. He decided to pick the fairest way he could, by playing eenie meanie minie moe.

"Caroline will you accept this rose?"

"Yes, I will!"

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"Draco, ladies, unfortunately it's time for Draco to come with me and decide which ones of you will receive roses and which ones will be sent home, broken hearted. So Draco if you will follow me." Chris said before he began to walk Draco through two hallways, arriving at a room with 25 framed pictures of all of the girls. Draco basically knew who he wanted to continue on, although he wasn't exactly positive. He had 25 women downstairs and he was supposed to send 10 home, god he hadn't expected this to be so bloody hard. He was surprised to find he really didn't want to hurt any of these girls. Damn it what did Blaise and Pansy do to him?

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"Alright ladies this will be the first rose ceremony of the competition, and for ten of you it will be your only rose ceremony. Caroline because you have received the first impression rose you are automatically safe this week. Draco, you may begin whenever you are ready." Chris said as he bowed off to the side.

"When I came here" Draco began "I didn't expect it to be hard to send home ten of you. I've only been with you all for about 4 hours now but I really feel like I have known you all for a lot longer. I just want you all to know how difficult of a decision this was for me and I am truly sorry for any one I hurt in this process. Okay, I guess I'm ready to start."

"Rose number one, well I guess actually rose number two thanks to Caroline. I want to give this rose to a girl who really knows how to make an impression so Victoria, will you accept this rose?"

"I most definitely will!"

"Third rose, Nadia, will you accept this rose?"

"Of course!"

"Fourth rose, Kate, will you accept this rose?"

"I will!"

"Chantal, will you accept this rose?"

"I most certainly will!"

Hermione was getting nervous, only ten roses were left and who knows whether she was getting one. Oh god maybe he realized who she was and wanted to embarrass her! Oh crap her plan is backfiring! No calm down Hermione! You will get a rose. Maybe she shouldn't have played hard to get….

"Mia, will you accept this rose?"

"Duh!"

"Duh? I love your originality."

"Thank you" Mia giggled cutely until she snorted and hurried back into the line embarrassed.

"Rachel, will you accept this rose?"

"I will!"

"Robin, will you accept this rose?"

"I absolutely will!"

"8 roses down, only 7 more to go. Natalie, will you accept this rose?"

"Yes, gladly!"

"April, will you accept this rose?"

"Of course!"

"Draco, only five roses left" Chris reminded him

"Lizzie, will you accept this rose?"

Hermione exhaled a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. As she walked up to him she had a sudden idea, sure rejecting him now would be fun but it would be even better if she could get him to propose and then reject him! Hermione was really enjoying her new plotting self.

"I will." She said before walking back into line.

"Chloe, will you accept this rose?"

"Yes I will!"

"Rebecca will you accept this rose?"

"Of course!"

"Monica, will you accept this rose?"

"Yes I'd love to!"

"Draco, last rose of the night." Chris reminded him again.

"This is a very hard decision" Draco said. He looked at all the girls who didn't have roses and he actually genuinely felt badly for them. Here goes nothing.

"Darla, will you accept this rose?"

"I was afraid you would never ask."

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"Unfortunately that means Sarah, Ivy, Emma, Stacy, Amanda, Mackenzie, Noel, Alyssa, Sophia, and Devon, you are out. Please take a moment and say your goodbyes." Chris said as he came to pat Draco on the back.

Draco actually felt remorse as each rejected girl came to hug him goodbye. He particularly felt pained when he saw some of the girls tear up, Draco pushed it out of his mind though. He had to do it.

"Cheers to the top 15 beautiful women in this room and of course cheers to the prospect of love."

"Cheers!"

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**Author's Note: **I hope you enjoyed! To all of the readers of St. Mungo's: I know I focused on this story today so tomorrow I will update that as much as I can! I want to get a significant amount done on both stories before I leave in 2 weeks! Thanks for reading guys and please reviews if you can!


	4. Flirting and Planning and Questioning

Will You Accept This Rose

**Will You Accept This Rose?**

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**Author's Note:** Hey guys! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! Here is the 4th chapter, so I hope you guys like it! It's a little longer then usual so I hope you all will like it and not get bored to death!

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Hermione within her first hour in the mansion realized she had little in common with the other girls. She wasn't too surprised as she had watched previous seasons of this show and the girls weren't usually known for their intellect. Well that was something she had going for her and something that would help her crush Malfoy. She was bloody lucky though that not one of the other girls had read Jane Austen's novel Pride & Prejudice because it would have been a hassle to explain her new alias as Elizabeth (aka Lizzie) Bennett.

Hermione looked over the girls who she would be sharing a room with. Nadia wasn't too bad, a little dull to talk to but nice enough. She immediately took a dislike to April, she tried to hard for Malfoy's attention. She pitied Caroline, no other girls liked her because she received the first impression rose. Her last roommate, Darla, had to be by far the dumbest girl in the entire house. On several occasions Hermione had to recommend to her that it would be beneficiary to purchase a globe.

"OMG! GIRLS WE HAVE OUR FIRST LETTER!" Chloe screamed, as all the girls rushed down the stairs and out their bedrooms to get to hear the message of the letter. Hermione followed suit much slower.

"Okay girls" Monica began as she opened the letter "The first date of this entire competition will be a group date."

"Yay!" Mia squealed.

"As I was saying" Monica said snappishly "the first date will be a group date. Draco wants the following girls to pull out their bathing suits and towels for a day of fun at the water park! Okay so the amazingly lucky girls are Natalie, Victoria, April, Kate, Rachel and oh yes me!" The six girls mentioned above began squealing and jumping in excitement. Which led to more running around trying to pull together outfits for their date. Hermione was relieved to not go to the water park, her hair when wet was not a pretty site. And if she wanted her plan to work she had to always be at her best. Take that Malfoy!

"I really wish I was going on the date" Chloe whined.

"Well maybe you'll get lucky and go on the three girl date instead." Nadia said

"I hope so!" Chloe said as she dejectedly walked to her room.

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After all the commotions that the letter created Hermione had calmly walked outside and sat in the area she had originally picked as her reading spot. She had been drawn to the spot because of the flowers that surrounded it, lilacs were in bloom and they had always been her favorite. Hermione however soon became very absorbed in her book and didn't even hear someone approaching her.

"Hello again" Hermione looked up only to see the one and only Draco Malfoy

"Why hello to you too" Hermione said as she closed her book and stood up

"What are you doing all the way out here?" Draco asked looking around

"Oh I just came out to read, it's a lot quieter out here."

"I can imagine." He said laughing

"What are you doing out here?" Hermione asked a little bit confused

"Well I was walking down the driveway and I noticed someone hiding in the garden so I had to come check it out."

"I wasn't hiding!" Hermione said playfully "Just avoiding the chaos in the house. Who knew one letter from you could turn the entire house upside down?"

"Well I am pretty incredible." Malfoy joked. Hermione inwardly gagged. He was so arrogant.

"Well all the girls in there seem to think so too."

"And you don't?" Malfoy asked with a smirk

"Even if I do, I'm not going to tell you." Hermione replied with a smirk

"And why not?" He asked laughing

"It's much more fun when you don't know." Hermione said laughing and wrinkling her nose

"Well then if you wont tell me then I will just have to take this" He said as he grabbed her book out of her hands.

"Hey give me that!" She said chasing him while still laughing

"You're going to work a little harder to get it!" Draco called while still running

"Hey Draco are you out here?" A male voice came through breaking their laughter.

"Oh shit Lizzie, I have to go. The camera men are here so I need to go on my date. I'll see you later" Draco said as he came up to her and kissed her on the cheek

"It was nice talking to you Draco, off camera I mean."

"Yeah it was really nice." Draco said as he turned, smiled, and walked toward the house. 'It was more then nice.'

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Draco was in heaven. He was surrounded by six drop dead gorgeous women in bikinis at a water park. Why he had ever resisted Blainsy (Pansy and Blaise combined) he had no idea.

"Draco come on this ride with me?" Kate pleaded as she grabbed his hand

"No he has to come on this ride first it's so much more fun!" April squealed

"Well I'd go on that ride too, only if Draco sits next to me." Monica said throwing in a wink in Draco's direction.

"How about we go on Kate's ride first, then a ride of April's choice, then Monica's choice, then Natalie's, Victoria's and finally Rachel's choice. Sound good?" Draco asked

"Sounds divine." Natalie said trying to seem demure

"Sounds great!" Victoria said in her happy go lucky way

"Ok I pick the Demonator as my first ride!" Kate screamed as she grabbed Draco's hand!

"Alright the Demonator it is as he snuggled two of the six

girls under his arms.

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Back at the house Hermione was sorting through her wardrobe. She needed to step up her game. She remembered who Malfoy dated back at school and why he dated them. Let's see for example Daphne Greengrass? Blonde, bimbo and boobs. The 3 Bs. Hermione knew she wouldn't win if she tried to act like her, it was too late for that already. But she would play the hard to get, intellectual women like Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca. But it wouldn't hurt to dress more like the part. She would go more for Ralph Lauren model then her now state of 24 going on 60.

"I hope the next date letter comes soon. I miss Draco so much already!" Nadia whined as plopped herself down on her bed.

"How on earth can you miss him already? You've known him for a day!" Hermione cried

"Well you know that feeling people talk, that moment when you know the person in front of you is totally going to be your soul mate? You know?" Nadia said as she looked off slightly in the distance.

'Oh bull shit.' Hermione thought. 'You have that "feeling" along with 13 other girls!'

"I completely understand what you mean" Robin said. "Draco and I have this amazing connection and I honestly think I would die with out him." Hermione rolled her eyes while returning her attention to reorganizing her suitcase.

"Don't you agree Lizzie?" Robin continued

"Hello? Lizzie? Earth to Lizzie!" Nadia said

'Oh shit that's me!' Hermione realized as she looked up quickly. "Uh what?"

"We asked do you agree that Draco is the perfect man and that life without him would be utterly pointless and depressing?" Robin asked

"Uh not really?"

"What?!" Nadia and Robin screamed

"I mean sure Draco seems like a great guy, he's handsome, funny and intelligent" Hermione inwardly laughed, intelligent? funny? yeah right. She would give him handsome though, that superficial jerk! "but" she continued, "if he doesn't like me then that's not the end of the world. Like they say there are plenty of fish in the sea."

"Uh whatever!" Robin said turning her back to Hermione. "Isn't his hair great?" She squealed

"OMG I know! It's like perfectly shaggy, but not messy. But like he still needs to brush it out of his eyes it is too cute! I love his outfits, any man that can dress himself is obviously perfect!"

"I know like I'd honestly think he was like a model for Armani or something!"

"I totally agree!"

"I could so imagine myself being Mrs. Draco Malfoy."

Hermione had enough of their annoying high pitched squealing and so she quickly exited the room and headed downstairs only to hear a knock at the door. When she opened the door no one was there but there was a medium sized box left on the doorstep with a card saying "to the girls." Hermione carried it to the table before walking to the stairs and yelling up "date box is here." She then braced herself for the stampede of girls that would come flying down the stairs.

"I so call opening it!" Nadia cried as she grabbed the box off the table and threw the top off! Oh my god it's a sailor's hat inside!"

"Open the card! See what it says!" Robin yelled

Chantal quickly grabbed the card and ripped it open and began to read "Hello Ladies! Tomorrow morning bright and early your bachelor wants three lucky ladies to join him on his boat and say Bon Voyage. So Caroline, Chantal and Lizzie get ready at 11 AM tomorrow for a trip around the bay."

"I need to go pick out my outfit!" Caroline screamed as she headed once again up the stairs!

"Aw I wanted to go on the three person date!" Robin said as she moped into the kitchen.

"He has a boat? That is so sexy!" Chantal squealed as she raced after Caroline.

"You are so lucky Lizzie, you practically get one on one time with Draco!"

"Oh yeah I'm really…._lucky."_ Hermione said trying her best to hide her sarcasm. This was going to be a long competition.

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Eventually after all the chaos in the house had settled Hermione found herself once again digging through her clothes trying to find the perfect outfit. So far she had out a navy stripped bikini, with cute pink buttons on the sides of the bottoms, and a tasteful but semi-short white three quarter length sleeved cover up dress. She had to admit, her mom had a way with clothing, and she was glad her mom had forced her into buying new clothing. Hermione was eager to see how skilled Draco was on a boat, who knew that the once muggleborn hating Slytherin would be willing boarding a muggle boat? Hermione laughed at the irony as she changed into her pajamas, set her outfit for tomorrow off to the side, and snuggled into bed with her book.

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Hermione woke up the next morning at her normal time of 6' o clock. All the other girls were still asleep and Hermione was glad because it was nearly impossible to get time in the bathroom when they were all awake. After a light breakfast Hermione changed into shorts, a t-shirt, and her running shoes so that she could go for a light jog. She headed out from the mansion and down the street, eager to see exactly what surrounded the mansion. She hadn't run very far when she discovered a nice dog park that was only a few houses down from the mansion. She turned into the park and decided to run on the trails there. After running a bit she sat down on a rock to catch her breath. However, as soon as she sat down a big dog took the chance to jump on her, causing her to jump up.

"Sorry about that!" A man said as he pulled his dog off her. "I'm still training him, Buddy loves people."

Hermione looked up into the eyes of a very attractive man. She hoped she didn't look too sweaty or tired fro her run.

"It's okay!" She replied as sweetly as she could, "I had dogs growing up. I know how they can be"

"He is pretty much a good dog, I only rescued him a few weeks ago from the local pound and he is having some trouble mastering basic commands."

"Is it alright if I pat him?" Hermione asked

"Of course! Go right ahead, he is very gentle."

Hermione bent down and stroked the dog's head. He was a pretty skinny golden retriever but he was also a handsome boy.

"Aw he's adorable" Hermione said as he licked her hand.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch your name. What is it?"

Hermione stood up and offered her hand to him "Hermione. And yours?"

"Jesse."

"Well it's really nice to meet you Jesse."

"As with you Hermione. Actually I was just out taking Buddy for a walk, would you care to join me?"

"Sure that'd be great!" Hermione said as she smiled broadly at both Buddy and Jesse.

"So Jesse what do you do?"

"I'm a veterinarian actually."

"So you really must love animals then?" Hermione said as bent down to scratch Buddy's ears.

"Oh I do completely. And what do you do?"

"Well technically I'm a writer."

"Technically?"

"Well I haven't been published yet but I'm working on it. I'm a journalist currently but also trying to write a book."

"Sounds interesting, what about?"

Hermione had no idea what to say. How was she supposed to tell a muggle that she was writing a book about her experiences in a magical war in a world he didn't know existed?

"You know just a analysis of past wars and such." Hermione knew she was being vague but oh well what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Hermione and Jesse continued to walk and talk for hours until Hermione looked at her watch only to discover it was already 10.

"Oh god I totally forgot about the time. I have to go! It was great meeting you!" Hermione said quickly as she began to walk away

"Wait Hermione! Could I possibly have your number?" Jesse said with a look of hopefulness

"Oh Jesse, I'm kind of seeing someone." Hermione said, it was true though she was kind of seeing someone. A someone who she hated and who was also seeing 14 other girls.

"Well then in case it doesn't work out here is my card. If he is ever dumb enough to do something to lose you then give me a call." Jesse said as he placed the card in her hand.

"I will." Hermione said dazed and she began slowing walking back to the house.

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At 11 exactly the doorbell rang. Hermione knew better then to rush straight to the door, it would already be very crowded and besides she wanted to seem hard to get, right? So she casually began walking down the stairs and through the hall. Nadia and Robin were already hugging and chatting animatedly with him while Chantal was sending him flirty looks.

"So Chantal, Caroline and Lizzie, ready to do?" Draco asked

"More then ready!" Caroline squeaked!

"Very ready" Chantal said.

Hermione said nothing just smiled softly at Draco and walked out the door.

"Okay girls here is the first problem of the day, our limo is too big for the ferry we have to use to get to the island where my boat is so we had to take a different car. This is bad only because there are three seats in back and one person will have to sit up front in the passenger's seat."

"How about you, Chantal and I sit in the back?" Caroline said

"And Lizzie sits in the front!" Chantal said glaring slightly at Hermione.

"Lizzie, is that okay with you?" Draco asked as Caroline grabbed his hand

"Of course it's okay with me. How else would I control the music?" Hermione said as she walked to the car and opened the door.

Draco looked questioningly at Hermione's retreating backside. He had to admit Lizzie had him stumped. She wasn't all over him like the other girls, she was clever and actually read books! But what he really couldn't figure out was why she seemed so familiar. He knew she reminded him of someone but he just couldn't place his finger on who.

"Draco we've been dying to know what's your favorite color?"

"I'd have to say green. And you girls?" He said smiling at his true Slytherin pride. Hermione again rolled her eyes but made sure no one saw.

"Well I love light pink but not pink with purple that is so Eastery. I also love all jewel tones but I think the best color on me is sea foam green." Caroline said.

"And Chantal?" Draco questioned.

"Hmm tough choice. I'd have to say blue because that's the color of my eyes." Chantal said flashing him her best smile and batting her eyelashes slightly.

"And Lizzie?"

"Oh definitely red" Hermione inwardly smirked, "it was my color at school."

"Oh? How funny red was the rival of my color, green, in school." Draco said with a laugh.

"Oh how weird!" 'Except not really' Hermione though "Green was my rival color at school."

"Where did you go to school?" Draco asked

"Oh uh this small uh girl's school in France. It was really small you probably haven't heard of it."

"Where did you go to school?" Caroline asked, eager to move the subject off of Hermione.

"I went to an utterly indescribable school."

"What was it called?" Caroline asked

"St. Brutus's School for Incurably Criminal Boys?" Hermione teased as Draco laughed hysterically

"I don't get it." Caroline whined

"It's a London thing." Draco said in between laughs

"Oh so Draco tell us what is your favorite animal?" Chantal asked as she traced his hands.

"Probably a snake." Hermione had to physically stop herself from rolling her eyes at him.

"Oh I love panda bears!" Caroline said enthusiastically

"My favorite would definitely have to be a bunny rabbit. They are just so cute and fluffy!" Chantal said

"And Hermione?" Draco asked

"Oh I'd definitely have to say a lion. You know, the king of the forest type."

Draco raked his brain, he just couldn't remember why she seemed so familiar. Sure he might have met her once at a party but she was seriously just reminding him of someone-but who? His thoughts were cut off by Hermione's switching songs on the radio, from the pop song that Chantal and Caroline were singing to a Rolling Stone's song.

"Oh I love this song!" Draco said as he began tapping his foot to the beat.

"You do?" Hermione asked shocked that Malfoy would actually know muggle music.

"If you start me up I'll never stop" Malfoy sang along

"Sorry to disrupt" the driver said "but we're here."

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Within ten minutes the three girls, Draco, and an entire crew were sailing on Draco's yacht. Caroline and Chantal immediately began sun tanning and trying to get Draco to tan with them. However, Draco told them he wasn't much of a tanner and opted to sit in the shade with Hermione.

"Want to play a game?" Hermione asked

"Sure. Why not?" Draco replied turning immediately towards her.

Hermione sat Indian style on the bench facing Draco. "Okay the game is called the question game. You say two different words and then you pick which one appeals to you more. For example, I might say Chocolate and Vanilla and you say which one you like more. Get it?"

"Sure. I'll go first. Cats or dogs?"

"Definitely dogs. You?"

"Dogs, cats annoy me." Draco replied with a laugh

"Eat in or take out?" Hermione asked

"Eat in. You?"

"Eat in but I'm not much of a cook."

"Summer or Winter?" Draco asked

"Winter. You?"

"Summer."

"Blue eyes or brown eyes?" Hermione asked

"On girls or on me?"

"On girls obviously."

"How is that obvious?" Draco laughed as he asked

"Well you don't have either blue or brown. You have grey so how could it be about you. But answer the question!"

"Well don't tell the others but I'm partial to brown eyes." Draco said with a wink.

"You? Except of course on guys."

"Neither. I like grey eyes." Hermione said purposefully over emphasizing and repeating his wink.

"Alright fine" he laughed "best friends or boyfriends?"

"Is there a difference?" Hermione asked

"Good answer."

"Why thank you. Boxers or briefs?" Hermione giggled

"Neither." Draco smirked before adding "just kidding I guess briefs. Hmm…holding hands or making out?"

"Most definitely both. Tea or coffee?" Hermione asked

"Coffee. You?"

"Tea."

"Draco! Come over and swim with us!" Chantal cried desperate to get his attention as she ripped her top off revealing her bikini.

"Want to join us?" Draco asked Hermione

"Sure why not."

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Hermione immediately regretted her decision to swim with them. As soon as she got in Chantal and Caroline decided to play the gang up on Hermione/Lizzie game and splash her. They then both tried and tackled Draco leaving Hermione to swim by herself. Hermione swam back to the boat and got out, she dried off and decided to read a little. Besides she already wasn't doing a good job of seeming hard to get and she didn't want to be sent home, how embarrassing would that be? No she was going to win!

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After they had finished swimming they had to head back to the house. Hermione was once again left sitting in the front seat. On the way home Caroline and Chantal talked on a variety of topics, from old relationships to shoe sizes. Hermione didn't feel the need to join in on their conversations and so she lightly hummed songs on the radio while occasionally smiling at Draco, she could see him looking at her through the corner of her eye every so often. Maybe she wasn't as bad at flirting as everyone thought?

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**Author's Note: **Thanks to everyone who has reviewed in the past or is going to review. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and look out for any future updates. I am leaving Monday so I hope to get up at least one more chapter before I leave for a month. Thanks again for all your support and of course for reading!

:D


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